Contaminated soil cost nearly $50K to remove

September 8, 2013

There once were gas stations on many of the Highway 169 intersections in Blue Earth. That fact is now becoming a financial burden to the city.

And, the price tag is close to $50,000.

Luckily, the Blue Earth City Council learned Tuesday night at their meeting that their actual out-of-pocket expense is going to be $16,000. But, not so lucky, there still could be more costs to come.

Here is how this all came about.

While digging in a sanitary sewer line at the Seventh Street intersection, work crews uncovered a vein of soil contaminated with petroleum.

That happened on July 2 or 3 and brought construction to a halt for a week or more while the soil was tested.

"We sent in a request to the state before July 11 for assistance from the state petro fund," city engineer Wes Brown told the council on Tuesday. "They agreed to help in the cost of removal, but only from that point forward."

In other words, the city was on the hook for 100 percent of the cost of the 400 tons of contaminated soil already removed.

In all, 1,244 tons were hauled away to a special landfill in Albert Lea, at a cost of $35 per ton.

Total bill - $47,093.76.

Of that amount, the Minnesota Department of Transportation is going to cover $3,504 because it was soil from the actual highway reconstruction area.

But, because the rest of the cost $43,589.76 came from soil removed from the city's sanitary sewer line trench, Blue Earth has to pay for it.

"The state petro fund will cover about $27,000 of that cost," Brown told the council. "That means the city's actual share is going to be around $16,000."

The bad news is that more contaminated soil could still be found. Brown was concerned about the Second Street intersection.